Well the Spring Warm-Up is behind us. Participants started showing up early (around 8:30) only to find a track soaked and drying slowly due to overcast conditions. The radar image showed no precipitation but there was a stream of water that had found it's way through the center of the track. Hank Giancaterino, Johnny Whitman, David Basl, & Stan Medlin started to work on dispersing the water with brooms, leaf blowers, and other instruments of destruction.
Other club members pitched in as they arrived and soon the water was drying up nicely. The sun popped out and Stan was off to retrieve the track trailer. However when he returned there were some disappointed faces on those drivers standing around the track. The sun had started to heat up the surface and was wicking water up through cracks in the asphalt. As fast as they could disperse the puddles it would come back. The decision was made to go ahead and continue with track setup as club members worked on the wet areas. Track setup went nicely and was soon complete. Unfortunately the water removal did not. More wet spots had crept up including areas in the middle of the straight and in some key turns. After fighting this for an hour, it was suggested to modify the layout in an attempt to avoid the wet spots as much as possible. Everyone one pitched in and made the necessary adjustments and the track was declared as ready as it would get. (See Diagram Below)
Qualifying: Angel soon had the computer loaded and started the 1st round of qualifying. Qualifying wasn't taken as serious as usual due to the continous water problems but most drivers still turned in respectable times. When the first round was complete the leaders were Sean Tabor in 1/8th Pro, John Laster in Electric Touring, Joe Harler in Nitro Truck, Chris Whitney in Nitro Touring Sport, Eric Jones in Nitro Touring Pro, and Aaron Bartlett in Monster Truck. A second round of qualifying was scrubbed due to the late start and computer problems. That's why we call it a warm-up, right?, to get these problems ironed out.
Once the mains were set something wonderful happend........The track dried out......almost completely!
1/8th Pro: 1/8th started off the show with a full field. As the flag flew and the cars were off. Sean immediately took the point and pulled away from the field. Hank G & Sparky followed with the rest of the field in tow. Troy Woodson, Mike Bowman, Kevin Randolph, Stan Medlin, and Gerry Evans jockeyed for position early & often. With the track now dry, drivers soon found out just how good their cars were or weren't. Some good.....some not so good!
Up front Sean had some trouble and Hank promptly took the lead with a hard charging Sparky closing in from behind as well. Hank bobbled a few laps later and Sparky moved around him momentarily before getting tangled up with him entering the back straight. Hank got the worst of it losing one of his wheels. Sparky then took over the lead for the next few minutes as Sean who had recovered from his earlier woes had closed back in on Poore's racer. Sean took the lead shortly after the first fuel stop. They would run close for the next 5 minutes with Sparky trying to hang on to the back of Sean's Mugen. After the second fuel stop Sean got some breathing room when Sparky's Serpent got hung up on the entrance to the pits causing a lengthy stop. Mark running hard finally clipped the wagon wheel turn and spit a dogbone effectively parking his 950 for the day. Sean was never seriously challenged after that. Meanwhile John Laster & Mike Bowman had dispatched their competition and moved into second and third respectively well ahead of fourth and fifth place finishers, Troy Woodson & Gerry Evans in that order. Rounding out the field was Sparky, Hank, Sportsman driver David Basl, Stan Medlin, & Kevin Randolph, all of which had mechanical problems.
Electric Touring: John Laster ruled this class from start to finish however some of the best racing was between Mac Scott and Joe Harler. They diced it up for a few minutes and put on a good show. Eric Simpson did not start. When the batteries were dead and the checked flag flew it was John, Joe, Mac, & Eric in that order.
Nitro Truck: Nitro truck started much like the Electric Touring with only three drivers. Here also the Top Qualifier took the race from start to finish and never was seriously challenged. Earl Ingram was forced to park his truck just two and a half minutes into the event. That left son Tommy to do battle with the pole sitter, Joe Harler. After a mishap Tommy fell back a pair of laps and conceded to finish second. Final order was Joe, Tommy, Earl, and Victor Boger who did not start.
Nitro Touring Sport: Touring Sport was very exciting to watch. Eight drivers took the starters flag and commenced to do battle. Aaron Bartlett set the track a blaze with Pole Sitter, Chris Whitney, in hot pursuit. The lovely Sandra Long showed she could run with the big boys as well giving Joe Harler, Mac Scott, and Eric Simpson all they could handle. Craig Jones and Johnny Whitman both had mechanical gremlins force them out early and wound up with Travis Johnson and Ricky Simons in the parking lot. Back up front Aaron Bartlett was unable to finish out the main but had turned enough laps to get the win. Joe and Chris finished second and third with Sandra following closely behind in fourth. Mac who was a actor early fell out but turn enough laps to finish fifth. Rounding out the rest of the field was Eric, Craig, Johnny, Travis, & Ricky in that order.
Nitro Touring Pro: This class had the most drivers of any manin still running at the finish of the day.
Super smooth Eric Jones and rocketman Mike Bowman had at it early with Johnny Pritchett, John Laster, Troy Woodson, Jack Honeycutt, & Gerry Evens battling just as hard behind them. Eric pulled out to a commanding lead and went about the business of putting his competitors laps down. Jack ran into problems early and was forced to park his ride along with David Basl early in the event. John picked off Troy & Gerry and eventually moved up into third place. Johnny taking a page from John fenissed his way past Gerry as well but couldn't make up ground on Troy. Mike meanwhile got a reprieve and a lap back when Eric's ride flamed out on the track costing him valuable seconds and laps. Bowman got back within a lap but was unablew to close anymore ground as his tires wore out. When all the dust settled it was Eric, Mike, John, Troy, Johnny, Gerry, Jack, David, & Duwahn Lee in that order.
Nitro Monster Truck: In the waining hour of the day only one truck started this main. Jack Honeycutt got some track time and finished off the event for the day with a nice strong 11 laps in 5 minutes and 12 seconds to take this class. Victor Boger, Aaron Bartlett, and Larenzo Allen did not start.
A Special Thanks to all the participants and support personnel that helped to pull this off after such a bad start to the day. I believe that everyone appreciated the chance to get out on the track so they could scratch that itch.
A special thanks goes out to Angel for her efforts on a day that was full of glitches in the computer and P.A. system. Great Job!
I hope to see everyone at the first points race of the year on April 3rd.